Troubled but Cute: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

''Such a beautiful disaster...''|'''Kelly Clarkson, "Beautiful Disaster"'''}}

 

 

 

== Anime and Manga ==

 

* Harima Kenji from the anime ''[[School Rumble]]'' takes a lot from this trope. Being rather antisocial and a juvenile delinquent, with a liking for leather jackets and bikes, he likes beating up Yakuza goons and is all around good-looking...except that, beneath all that, he's an oaf with a heart of gold who likes drawing manga and is too scared of confessing his love for a classmate. All while obliviously gaining the attention of several other girls.

** One could also consider Gaara this, considering his err...antisocial attitude and his bad past.

* Fakir from ''[[Princess Tutu]]''. He even has a fanclub at his school, although it's likely none of his fangirls have ever talked to him, given his anti-social nature.

* Ikuto from ''[[Shugo Chara]]''. Though his only fangirl appears to be his sister.

** Not to mention that his reason for obsessively trying to beat Yuki doesn't make him a bad guy at all: {{spoiler|Akito said that if he beat Yuki fairly (at anything), he won't be locked in isolation until he's dead.}} Not to mention, his general issues with Tohru are revealed at the very end of the manga to be the result of how {{spoiler|he could have stopped her mother from being hit by the car, but grabbing her would have caused him to transform into a cat. He blamed himself for being a coward (a running theme in his [[Character Development]]) and thought her dying words were her blaming him.}}

** {{spoiler|He also believed that Kyoko told him to stay away from Tohru, who he falls in love with.}}

* Both Ryoma Echizen and Akaya Kirihara from ''[[The Prince of Tennis]]''.

* Every last protagonist student character in the [[Live Action Adaptation]] of ''[[Gokusen]]''.

** That barely scrapes the surface of how whacked he is. On one occasion, Kaname was kidnapped by a group of thugs who planned to back him into a corner. He retaliated in a way so nightmarish that, that particular episode wasn't aired for a while because of a similar incident in real life. Then, when she got kidnapped AGAIN by the Yakuza, Sousuke went after her with a rival gang clad in '''theme park mascot suits converted into powered armors'''. Seriously, who the hell would convert theme park mascots into powered armor and try to sell it to the military and law enforcement sector, then wonder why didn't it sell?!

*** He first stole the suit while trying to keep an eye on Kaname while she was at an amusement park and decided to make it more useful in the future by upgrading it. He's dumbfounded by it not selling because his raised-by-wolves attitude left him without a sense of aesthetics, so he didn't realize just how silly it looked.

* ''[[Code Geass]],'' oh dear God, ''[[Code Geass]]''! Many of the show's famous male characters are: 1) [[Bishounen|insanely and inhumanly good-looking]], 2) less-than-rosy in their moral leanings, and 3) [[Jerkass Woobie|suffering horribly]] [[Freudian Excuse|(one way or another)]].

* Most prominently with main character Edward Elric of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''

* ''[[Game X Rush]]'' has Yuuki, who also has shades of [[Broken Bird]] from time to time.

* Ryoki from ''[[Hot Gimmick]]''.

* Asuka Langley Sohryu from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' is the perfect female example of this trope.

** Most major characters from Evangelion qualify as Troubled But Cute to some extent.

* Natsume, of ''[[Gakuen Alice]]''.

* Bridget L. Satellizer in ''[[Freezing]]'' is known as "[[Badass Nickname|The Untouchable Queen]]" because of her skill and tendency to beat the crap out of anyone who touches her. Because [[There Are No Therapists]], everybody avoids and ostracizes her without realizing her problems are the result of [[Freudian Excuse|being abused both emotionally and sexually by a family member]].

 

 

== Comic Books ==

 

 

== Film ==

* Billy Costigan in ''[[The Departed]]'', to Madolyn.

* Roger Davis from ''[[Rent]]''. The guy has HIV and is really, really cranky, but is still beloved by any straight girl.

* Jason Dean from the film ''[[Heathers]]'' fits this trope, though he eventually reveals himself to be a psychopath.

* This trope is mocked through Zeke in Disney Channel's movie ''Minute Men'', when girls come up to him and ask, "You know, you're kind of scary and unapproachable... can we sit with you?"

* Billy Tallent and Joe Dick of ''[[Hard Core Logo]]'' are what happens when examples of this trope hit their thirties, with emphasis on the "troubled" part (especially in Joe's case).

* Kovu from the second ''[[Lion King]]'' movie definitely fits this trope - if he wasn't, you know, a lion, he would definitely wear leather jackets and ride a motorcycle.

* The titular character from [[Donnie Darko]].

 

== Literature ==

 

* Most of the main cast of ''[[The Outsiders]]''.

* Sirius Black in ''[[Harry Potter]]'', though, rather than being antisocial, he is represented as popular, despite various acts of callous teen cruelty. At least, as an adult, he is a good person at heart.

** And judging from his possessions, before the Potters got slaughtered by Voldemort, he was a biker.

** Harry and Ron both qualify as this in ''The Order of the Phoenix'' and ''Deathly Hallows'', respectively. Both also have reasons: Harry's parents, {{spoiler|godfather, and closest teacher}} were all murdered, one after the other. He even saw {{spoiler|one classmate, his pet, and an elf he set free}} murdered right in front of his face. In at least half of these examples, Harry himself was the original target. Ron is the youngest of five boys, which, as Dumbledore points out in ''The Philosopher's Stone'', is a lot to live up to. Not to mention the fact that he's best friends with [[The Hero|Harry, who, from Ron's point of view, has got everything]]. It is even implied (if not outright stated) in ''Deathly Hallows'' that he is afraid {{spoiler|Hermione is really in love with Harry, not him, and that his own mother would prefer to have Harry as a son}}.

* Irial and Niall from ''[[Wicked Lovely]]'' are this trope incarnate.

* [[Percy Jackson and The Olympians|Nico Di Angelo]]. Emphasis on the "cute", since he's only twelve years old, but he's got plenty of issues.

** Both The Todd and Turk have been shown as regularly working out at the hospital. That said, Cox is rather studly.

** Adding to both the troubled and cute (or at least honorable) is Cox's violent temper over being a perfectionist. The cute/honorable part is that his perfectionism is over saving his patients' lives.

** And the Ninth, and almost certainly Jack Harkness.

* Gabriel (and, arguably, most of Claire's love interests) on ''[[Six Feet Under]].''

** And Duncan, who had to go through being told his girlfriend was {{spoiler|probably his sister}} and a mental disorder, and, at least for a while, thinking he had killed his sister. Then, in Season Two...

** Given that Veronica herself falls into the female version of this trope, as well as most of the cast, let's just agree that the show RUNS on this trope, plus a good helping of [[Break the Cutie]].

** Liam is another textbook example on ''90210'', especially as they're now setting him up for a fling with good-girl protagonist Annie.

*** I believe Liam is a cross of Dylan McKay and Ryan Atwood.

* Ryan Atwood on ''[[The OC]]''. A bit of a subversion, as he was both the main character and, occasionally, the [[Only Sane Man]].

* Michael on ''[[Roswell]]''.

* Jess on ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'', who never actually got around to having a heart of gold.

** Jess got to heart of bronze-silver alloy, but it's a rather subtle thing.

*** His heart of gold got to shine later in when he reappeared for two episodes in the sixth season, having grown out of his jerkiness and into some responsibility (paying Luke back for at least the car and NOT making out with Rory when she reveals she's still with Logan).

* Jo from ''[[The Facts of Life]]'' is a [[Rare Female Example]].

* Shawn Hunter in ''[[Boy Meets World]]''. The rampart trailer park trash jokes started as innocent and one dimensional character traits. Then, for a good while from season two onward, it seemed like every other episode was a Shawn pity-party fest. And he got girls to boot.

* Daniel Desario from ''[[Freaks and Geeks]]'' is a [[James Dean]]-looking, scholasticly-challenged heart breaker from the wrong side of the tracks.

* Mark from ''[[Roseanne]]''. His brother David was more on [[The Woobie]] side of things.

* Dean from [[Wizards of Waverly Place]] is painted with this trope in mind, but Alex Russo pulls it off much better. Alex manages this without being a [[Broken Bird]], as a part of her [[Cool Loser]] goal and charm.

* '' [[Degrassi]]'' gives us a few. Sean, Craig, K.C., and Eli start off as this. Spinner, Jay, Alex, and Johnny grow into this (either [[Face Heel Turn|drama happening to them]] or [[Heel Face Turn|growing nicer to people]]). Ellie, Alex, and Bianca are female examples, showing more textbook traits of this compared to the [[Broken Bird|female counterpart]] trope.

* Both Stefan and Damon from ''The [[Vampire Diaries]]'', but [[Jerkass Woobie|particularly Damon]].

** Jeremy also applies.

* Some early episodes of ''[[Happy Days]]'' show Fonzie coaching the boys on how to act this way in order to arouse female interest.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

== Video Games ==

 

** Shinjiro Aragaki also counts, though he's not a [[Chick Magnet]]. The [[Updated Rerelease]] takes it [[Up to Eleven|well past eleven]] in the [[Distaff Counterpart|female protagonist's]] path. This is played with, though. {{spoiler|Despite all of his troubles (the ones he [[Stoic Woobie|doesn't complain about]]), it's made clear that he's a ''very'' nice guy (downright [[Moe]], even!) and that quite a bit of his [[Jerkass Facade|behavior]] is because he's fairly certain that he doesn't have much time left.}}

* Shadow the Hedgehog from the [[Sonic]] games has had a [[Dead Little Sister|very troubled past]] and is considered cute [[Furry Fandom|to some]].

** Tikal the Echidna has a very troubled past and is very, very cute.

'''Tony''': Now's not the time for that! }}

* The protagonist from ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' becomes this as of the second game. You know, after all the ''Dark Eco experimentation''.

* All three ''[[Metal Gear]]'' protagonists so far:

** Big Boss is an [[Even the Guys Want Him]] character, known for his charisma, presence, and magnanimity, who has had romantic and pseudo-romantic relationships with both women and men. He killed his mentor, and spends the rest of his life attempting to come to terms with it to the point of trying to start nuclear wars. Still hot, though.

*** He wasn't trying to start nuclear wars. He was trying to stick it to [[The Man]]...who turns out to be an actual character ({{spoiler|his former best friend!}}) in the story.

** Raiden at first comes across as well-adjusted, but turns out to have been a recovering ex-child soldier with messed-up standards of intimacy. But...so bishie!

* Kōya Aotsuki from the gay [[Dating Sim]] ''[[Morenatsu]]''.

* Norman Jayden from [[Heavy Rain]] is quite handsome, but spends most of the game struggling with a debilitating addiction to {{spoiler|triptocaine}} and {{spoiler|his overuse of the ARI}}. Things get even less pretty when he starts having [[Deadly Nosebleed|withdrawal symptoms]] from trying to break himself out of the habit.

* Lightning in ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'' is a female example.

 

== Visual Novels ==

 

== Web Comics ==

 

 

== Web Original ==

* Brutally deconstructed in [http://www.theonion.com/articles/im-sorry-but-i-only-date-men-my-friends-are-afraid,10898/ this] article in [[The Onion]].

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* Subverted in ''[[Kim Possible]]'': Ron tries to ''become'' this character to get a date. It doesn't work, and through a little accidental [[Applied Phlebotinum|A.P.]], he becomes a full-on supervillain.

*** Considering how [[Team Mom|Katara]] [[All Girls Want Bad Boys|was goo gaa over him]] until his plan was revealed, ''yes''.

* Roger Klotz in ''[[Doug]]''. He and Doug even get along once in a while, to show that he's not just a horrible jerk.

** He's also somewhat of a [[The Woobie|woobie]]. Sometimes, his mom doesn't spend a lot of time with him, and his dad lives in the next town over (his parents are divorced), AND lives in a trailer park (in the Nickelodeon version). Kinda makes you wonder why he started bullying in the first place.

* In one episode of ''[[Birdz]]'', we meet Riley Raven, a good-looking bad boy who does pretty much whatever he wants, and is considered a "bad egg" for it. We later learn that he acts this way because of his workaholic parents never having time for him.

** He was a straighter example in his [[Backstory]], which included a stint in juvie.

* Johnny 13 of ''[[Danny Phantom]]'', complete with rebel bike and all. He already has a girlfriend whom he loves despite his flirtatious nature and her constant nagging to keep his eyes focused on her at all times.

* The characterisation of Jim Hawkins in the original ''[[Treasure Island]]'' mostly revolved around his maturation to a man who knows the meaning of honour and duty and can be held responsible for his actions. The Disney adaptation of ''[[Treasure Planet]]'' Woobiefied him by making him more of a troubled troublemaker trying to find his place in the world, with low self-worth and [[Parental Abandonment|paternal abandonment]] issues.

* Hollywood actor [[James Dean]] is pretty much the definitive example here and possibly the [[Trope Codifier]].

* Can you say [[Byronic Hero|Lord Byron]]?

* [[Melanie Lynskey]] is [[Moe|cute as a bug's ear]], but tends to play characters that are, to say the least, quirky.

* River Phoenix. That is all.

* Ian Curtis of [[Joy Division]] fame.

* Peter Steele of [[Type O Negative]] fame.

* Russell Brand (read "My Booky Wook").

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Evil Is Sexy]]

[[Category:Love Interests]]